Weekly Letter: Praying On Behalf of the Jewish People and Oneself
The beginning of out Parsha tells of the many supplications of Moshe, at the end of the 40th year in the desert – praying for permission to enter the Holy Land with his people. On the theme of prayer, we share a letter of the Rebbe in which he discusses praying on behalf of the Jewish people and praying on behalf of oneself – and the connection between the two.
By the Grace of G-d
8th of Iyar, 5745
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr.
Winnetka, Ill. 60093
Greeting and Blessing:
Your letter reached me with considerable delay. In it you ask what happens when you “cease to pray for yourself and instead pray for the survival of the Jewish people.”
I trust there is no need to point out to you that the Jewish people consist of Jewish individuals each of whom is most important for the Jewish people. Thus, if one truly wants to pray in behalf of the Jewish people, one has to begin with praying for oneself, and never cease to pray for oneself, while at the same time praying also for the Jewish people as a whole.
There is surely no need to emphasize to you at length that praying to HaShem presupposes complete trust in HaShem and personal commitment to live up to His Will in the everyday life and conduct namely, in accordance with the Jewish way of the Torah and mitzvos.
All matters of Yiddishkeit are formulated in halacha, in terms of Divinely ordained rules. One of these rules is that a Jew has to consider himself, as well as the whole world, as equally balanced in terms of good deeds and misdeeds. Therefore, an additional good deed by any individual, tips the scale both in favor of the individual as well as the whole world.
If you let me know your full Jewish name, together with your mother’s Jewish name, as is customary, I will remember you in prayer for hatzlacha in all above and for the fulfillment of your heart’s desires for the good.
With blessing,
